Blackberry Bold

The Blackberry Bold is the top of the line device Blackberry offered through AT&T. In my opinion it is the best device offered through AT&T flat out. It has a 65,536 color high resolution display with 480x320 pixels which is ideal for video and movie playback. The phone itself comes with 1GB of internal storage space but is expandable up to 16GB with a MicroSD card. As far as media is concerned it also has one of the best MP3 players that I've seen on a phone period. It will sync with Windows Media and Itunes and has the ability to upload playlists and create new playlists from the device itself.

Audio quality is remarkable through the Bold because of high quality speakers that are built into the device and remarkable head phones that come with the device. The Bold is also capable of audio playback via bluetooth audio. I have personally used the device for bluetooth audio in my vehicle and with a bluetooth audio headset and audio quality is not diminished a bit with bluetooth and has become my preferred method of playback. In my car I use the Pioneer N4 with a pioneer bluetooth adapter. It has made CDs, MP3, and radio obsolete for my needs. For a bluetooth audio headset I use the Motorola Rokr which has amazingly clear sound that I use at the gym and when I'm out running. These options give me access to as much music as I can carry on an Ipod Nano while eliminating an extra device that I need to carry with me. I have an 8GB Micro SD card for my Bold that I've stored some 2,000 songs on. I have found this to be more than enough music to keep me occupied at any time and with the easy syncing through Windows Media Player and Itunes I can update my library whenever I want to.

The media capabilities alone were enough to sell me on the phone, however the Bold does far more than just play music. Blackberrys are designed first and foremost as Mobile Email devices and they are the premier devices for that. On a Bold you can sync multiple Email accounts and all of them will send and recieve Email to and from the device in real time. Blackberry is able to do this using a patented push server technology where as Windows Mobile devices have to constantly update themselves to look for new incoming messages and messages to be sent out. You can program a WM device to do that on your prompting or at timed intervals (10min, 20min, etc.) however the clear advantage is with Blackberry, that sends and recieves in real time without prompting or updating.

Above and beyond the aforementioned capabilities Blackberry launched an Application Store last month which gives users the capability to load third party applications. My favorite application by far has been Pandora. Pandora is an internet radio station that creates individual radio stations based on your favorite artists or songs. For example, if you type in "Johan Sebastian Bach" it will create a personalized radio station that plays Bach as well as other classical artists such as Beethoven, Wagner, and Mozart. Other notable applications are Myspace Mobile, Facebook Mobile, Slacker Radio, and Google Maps.

You can also purchase games from the Application Store. Games such as Solitaire, Bejeweled, and Tiger Woods Golf. That is, if the games that come preloaded on the phone aren't enough for you. The phone itself comes with Word Mole, Texas Hold Em', Sudoku, Klondike, and Brick Breaker for free. None of the games I just mentioned are trial versions or demos rather they are full versions of the game. Personally I find Word Mole to be delightfully addicting and thus I've spent countless hours keying in new words that are worth more points. I will also admit to spending a healthy swath of time playing Texas Hold Em'.

All of these things are fantastic little trinkets to have loaded on your cell phone however all the bells and whistles the world of electronics offer mean absolutely nothing if your phone doesn't have durability and reception. I have found from personal trial and error that the Bold is respectably durable. I've come to this conclusion based on the fact that I've accidently launched it across the room getting out of bed, dropped it countless times, and had my dog use it as her personal chew toy. Although I was none to pleased with any of these accidents, I was ecstatic to find that my phone still worked flawlessly after all of these incidents.

Some readers may be asking how the Bold stacks up against an Iphone and my answer simply is that it wins hands down. The Bold has Email capability that the Iphone simply cannot compete with. The Bold also has the ability to send and recieve picture messages that the Iphone famously lacks. The Bold can also look at youtube videos as well as view full html internet. Another point of interest for me is the fact that the Bold has a removable battery. This may not be a huge deal to some but I like having the peace of mind to know that if something were to go wrong with my battery I can easily rectify that without sending in my entire device. I also like the fact that through the Blackberry desktop manager I can backup all data on my phone securely to my computer. This is useful in the event that your phone is lost, stolen, or needs to be replaced because of a warranty issue you can restore all settings exactly the way you had them on your old phone down to individual caller ringtones, font types, and passwords. I water damaged a curve a while back and spent no time reconfiguring my new device because all my contacts, pictures, passwords, and internet favorites were loaded right back onto my new phone.

Last but certianly not least is the issue of reception. I have been amazed at the signal strength that Blackberrys sustain consistantly and the clarity that is delivered in conversations. I used to believe that the three best phones for reception were Nokia, Motorola, and Blackberry. Through using a Blackberry for the last year and a half however, I have come to believe that Blackberry devices are undoubtedly a cut above.

In closing, I firmly believe that the Blackberry Bold is the best phone offered through AT&T and is the best phone that I have ever used personally. I have been completely satisfied with the features that the Bold offers and it has set a new precedent for what I deem necessary for one of my phones. The quality of build has astounded me and I absolutely reccomend not only a Blackberry Bold but the Pearl and Curve to anyone who reads this article.

Tony Mendizabal